Several people have been injured after a Nairobi-bound bus overturned on Mombasa Road at Gateway Mall.
A passenger who was seated in the front seat said the driver lost focus while looking for a cloth beneath his seat seemingly to clear the mist on the windshield in the foggy weather and that moment, lost control of the vehicle.
“I told him you are going off the road you will crash the vehicle but I think it was too late. He tried to steer it back on the road but it toppled over,” he said.
He said the vehicle was travelling from Mlolongo to Nairobi and it was fully packed.
The passenger was bleeding on the left hand from what he said was the weight he took when the passenger seated in the front seat and the driver fell on him on impact.
Footage shared online shows first responders helping pull out injured passengers as others tried to switch off the vehicle's engine which was still running.
“Hii gari haizimiki ni ya wapi, toa battery,” one is heard saying.
A crowd that had gathered at the scene of the accident also played citizen police and stopped those with criminal intent from stealing from the injured passengers or vandalising the vehicle.
The latest data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) indicates that there has been a 2.82 per cent increase in deaths recorded from road crashes this year compared to the same period last year.
The Authority said at least 2,407 Kenyans have lost their lives in road accidents from January to July 7, 2024, from over 11,502 road crashes recorded in the same period.
Of these, 478 were passengers, 919 pedestrians and 210 drivers.
Overall, NTSA said at least 6,083 people sustained serious injuries, while 4,083 had slight injuries.
The Authority said most fatalities recorded in the first week of July occurred between 3 pm and 11 pm, with the peak at 9pm.
